BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (3+ outta 5 stars)
Really good film depicting a group of Asian-American high school students who slowly become enmeshed in more and more serious criminal activity. Excellent acting by the mostly Asian cast. The story is a kind of combination of Trainspotting and Goodfellas... tracing the friendship of four young men as their escalating life of crime begins to affect their friendship. These aren't the usual poor dumb crooks either... an interesting twist is that one of them, Ben (played by Parry Shen) is an incredibly bright super-achiever who doesn't *need* to turn to crime... he just enjoys the power that comes with the notoriety. I really didn't think I was going enjoy yet another youth-crime-drama... but the story and performances in this one hooked me early on and kept me enthralled until the end.
Really good film depicting a group of Asian-American high school students who slowly become enmeshed in more and more serious criminal activity. Excellent acting by the mostly Asian cast. The story is a kind of combination of Trainspotting and Goodfellas... tracing the friendship of four young men as their escalating life of crime begins to affect their friendship. These aren't the usual poor dumb crooks either... an interesting twist is that one of them, Ben (played by Parry Shen) is an incredibly bright super-achiever who doesn't *need* to turn to crime... he just enjoys the power that comes with the notoriety. I really didn't think I was going enjoy yet another youth-crime-drama... but the story and performances in this one hooked me early on and kept me enthralled until the end.